We got together after a year to play mahjong. Here are the foods we shared

Last week, my mahjong group was going to play in person for the first time in a year.

To celebrate, we all decided to bring something edible to share with the group. In this group of four, we have a vegetarian, a pescatarian (eats fish, no meat or chicken), a low carber (no grains or starchy vegetables but will eat fruit) and me. My style of eating, if needing definition, could be described as flexitarian. This is a food intake that is primarily plant based with occasional meat intake. There is no fixed amount of animal protein in the flexitarian approach. As the name implies, it is flexible.

The most important point here is not to judge a person by their diet. The vegetarian is not more righteous than the omnivore (a person who eats food of both plant and animal origin). Unless my friends ask my opinion, I do not volunteer my thoughts. I think this is good advice for everyone. To paraphrase my friend Carol, “Your opinion of my diet is none of my business.”

My main concern for the get together was bringing food everyone would eat. I needed to find a few universal foods to meet all diet requirements.

I first thought of nuts. They check all the boxes, including mine, of nutrient rich. Almonds are loaded with vitamin E, the walnuts provide omega 3 fatty acids, pistachios have eye-boosting leutin and zeaxanthin, and one ounce of Brazil nuts meets 100% of selenium requirements.

A second option was immature soybeans in the pod, also known as edamame. A half-cup of edamame has 4 grams of fiber, 8 grams of protein and a good amount of magnesium. I ended up bringing the safe choice of fruit and suggested my friend bring cut up vegetables with hummus. It is so good to be with friends the food is secondary.

Sheah Rarback MS, RDN is a registered dietitian nutritionist in private practice in Miami. srarback@hotmail.com